JP2000103503A - Runaway buffering device for moving cart in automatic warehouse - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To exactly stop a runaway cart. SOLUTION: A stay member 31 adaptable to the stages of respective rails 4 is stretchably fixed to end frames 17 for supporting the end parts of the multistage rails 4, and buffering members 34 made of plastically deformable raw material are symmetrically fitted to the member 31 to fix an abutting member 33 to the members 34. A moving cart 5 can be exactly stopped without a rebound due to the reaction to collision, because of the absorption of the movement energy of a moving cart 5 by the plastic deformation of buffering members 34.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a runaway buffer (pumper) for a mobile trolley in an automatic warehouse.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an automatic warehouse, a device for stopping a mobile trolley when a mobile trolley for loading and unloading luggage runs out of control for some reason is required. Therefore,
In an automatic warehouse, a stopper is provided on a frame located near an end of a rail on which a movable truck travels, with which a runaway movable truck collides.

[0003] Most of the conventional stoppers use an elastic body such as rubber or a coil spring.

[0004]

At first glance, a stopper made of an elastic material such as rubber or spring seems to be suitable as a shock absorber, but it has a problem in practice. That is, since the stopper made of an elastic body such as rubber or a spring absorbs the kinetic energy of the movable cart and then diverges, the movable cart that collides with the stopper is largely pushed back by the repulsive force of the stopper.
There is a risk that the movable cart will fall off the rails and be damaged by shelves and luggage due to the rebounded momentum.

Further, since the stopper shrinks to its limit and then expands, the impact force of the movable trolley acts considerably on the frame on which the stopper is mounted, and the frame is also damaged or deformed. The problem was that the frame had to be made extremely sturdy to prevent this. An object of the present invention is to improve such a situation.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to a shelf capable of storing a large number of loads, a mobile trolley running along the front of the shelf for loading and unloading loads, and a mobile trolley for stopping runaway. In the automatic warehouse provided with the stoppers, the stoppers may have a structure provided with a cushioning member that is plastically deformed by the collision of the runaway moving carriage, or the stoppers may be plastically deformed by colliding with the stoppers. This is characterized in that a buffer member is provided.

The stopper may be provided with a cushioning member for plastic deformation, and the movable carriage may be provided with a cushioning member for plastic deformation. Such a structure is also included in the claims.

[0008]

In the present invention, when the movable carriage runs away and collides with the stopper, the stopper or the cushioning member provided on the movable carriage is plastically deformed, so that the collision energy of the movable carriage is absorbed. However, since the shock-absorbing member is plastically deformed, it is hardly or hardly pushed back after the collision of the movable cart, so that the shelves and luggage are damaged and deformed by the pushed cart. Nothing happens.

In addition, since the kinetic energy is absorbed and absorbed as plastic deformation of the cushioning member in the process of stopping the movable cart, the impact force acting on the frame provided with the stopper is reduced as compared with the prior art. Even if it is not a frame, the movable carriage can be stopped accurately without causing damage or deformation.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS {Embodiment shown} Next, a description will be given based on an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of one end of an automatic warehouse, FIG. 2 is a partial schematic perspective view of an automatic warehouse,
FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of the other end of the automatic warehouse. The automatic warehouse includes a hangar 1 and a loading / unloading unit 2 provided near one end of the hangar 1.

The hangar 1 has a number of shelves 3 arranged in multiple stages on both sides of the passage, a large number of pairs of rails 4 arranged horizontally above the shelves 3 in each stage, and running on each rail 4. And a movable trolley 5. Each shelf 3 is supported by an inner vertical frame 6 positioned on the passage side, an outer vertical frame 7 positioned on the outer side, and an outer horizontal frame 8 fixed between the adjacent outer vertical frames 6. The uppermost horizontal frames 8 and 9 are connected by a reinforcing frame 10.

The rail 4 is fixed to the inner vertical frame 6, and the inner vertical frame 6 and the shelf 3 of each stage are set at the same height. Adjacent outer vertical frames 7 are reinforced by braces 11. In addition, the support structure of the shelf 3 is not limited to the form shown in the figure, but can be set freely. Further, the outer surface and the ceiling surface of the hangar 1 may be covered with a cover plate. The loading / unloading section 2 includes a shelf conveyor 12 arranged so as to extend from the shelves 3 in each stage, and a pair of lift conveyors 14 which freely move up and down along the columns 13. The loading / unloading section 2 is also shown in the plan view of FIG. 4, and each lift conveyor 14 is arranged so as to extend in a straight line with the shelf conveyor 12 in plan view.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, near the loading / unloading section 2, there is provided a loading / unloading transport conveyor 15 extending in series with each of the lift conveyors 14 in plan view. In this case, one of the two conveyors 15 may be used exclusively for warehousing and the other may be used exclusively for warehousing, or a lower conveyor 15 and an upper conveyor 16 are provided as shown by a dashed line in FIG. One of the upper and lower transport conveyors 15, 16 may be dedicated to entry and the other may be dedicated to exit.

As shown in FIG. 4, each rail 4 extends along the shelf conveyor 12 and is supported by a vertically long end frame 17. Left and right end frames 17 and lifting columns
13 are connected by a horizontal frame 18 and a reinforcing frame 19 having a triangular shape in a plan view. As shown in FIG. 4, the movable trolley 5 includes a main body frame 21 formed of a die steel or the like and having a rectangular shape in plan view, a pair of front and rear wheels 23 and 24 connected by an axle 22, and a motor 25 for driving one of the wheels 23. And a pair of front and rear picking devices 26 extending in a direction perpendicular to the running direction, a motor 27 for adjusting the distance between the two picking devices 26, and a detecting device 28 for detecting a running position of the movable carriage 5. I have.

As shown by the dashed line in FIG. 4, the picking device 26 is a double-acting movable arm that can move back and forth toward the shelf 3.
A picker 30 for pushing and pulling a load W is attached to the movable arm 29 so as to be horizontally rotatable. The picking device 26 includes a mounting plate 26a on which the load W is loaded, and the mounting plates 26a partially overlap each other. FIG. 5 is a plan view of the other end of the hangar 1, and the rail 4 is a shelf 3.
(The luggage W to the end of the shelf 3)
The rails 4 extend outside the shelves 3 to allow access to the shelves 3). The end of the rail 4 is an end frame
Fixed to 17. Note that a shelf conveyor 12 may be provided at the other end of the hangar 1 as shown by a dashed line. In this case, a storage unit may be provided at one end of the storage 1 and a storage unit may be provided at the other end.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a horizontally long stay member 31 corresponding to the step of each rail 4 is inserted and fixed to a pair of front and rear end frames 17 that support both ends of the rail 4. A stopper 32 is provided on the stay member 31. FIG. 6 is a plan sectional view of the stopper 32, and FIG.
-VII-VII cross-sectional view, and as clearly shown in these figures, the stopper 32 has a contact member 33 against which the runaway moving vehicle 5 collides, and a circular arc in plan view fixed to the contact member 33 and the stay member 31. And a buffer member.

The stay member 31 and the contact member 33 are formed in a U-shape in a side view, and are set to have a vertical dimension so as to fit each other. In the present embodiment, four cushioning members are provided, and two at a time are arranged symmetrically with respect to the traveling center line of the movable carriage 5. Each buffer member 34 is fixed to the stay member 31 and the contact member 33 by welding or the like. Each buffer member 34 is made of a plastically deformable material such as a steel plate (iron plate) or another metal plate.

The thickness and the number of the cushioning members 34, the vertical width and the like (ie, the strength of the cushioning members 34) may be set according to the size and speed of the movable carriage 5. Reference numeral 35 shown in FIG.
Is an emergency switch for turning off the power when the movable cart 5 collides with the stopper 32. Reference numeral 36 denotes a final cushion made of an elastic material such as rubber. In the above configuration, if the mobile trolley 5 becomes uncontrollable for any reason and runs away, the mobile trolley 5 collides with one of the front and rear stoppers 32. Then, as shown in FIG. 8, the shock absorbing member 34 is plastically deformed, and the hitting member 33 moves closer to the stay member 31, and the plastic deformation of the shock absorbing member 34 absorbs the collision energy of the movable carriage 5, and the movable carriage 5 Is hardly pushed back and stops near the stopper 32 (the cushioning member 33 may hit the final cushioning body 36 after the plastic deformation, but at this time, the kinetic energy has almost disappeared).

In this case, when the cushioning members 34 are arranged symmetrically in a plan view as in the embodiment, the left and right cushioning members 34 are uniformly plastically deformed. It is prevented from blurring. Further, when the stay member 31 and the contact member 33 are formed in a U-shaped cross section, the two members have a sturdy structure due to the presence of the upper and lower horizontal pieces 31a, 33a, so that the contact member 33 is also prevented from moving in the vertical direction. You.

As described above, the contact member 33 is prevented from being shaken in the left-right direction and the up-down direction, that is, the shock-absorbing member 34 is uniformly deformed, and the contact member 33 does not change its posture. , The movable carriage 5 does not swing largely in the left-right direction or jump up and down due to the reaction force. Therefore, the movable carriage 5 can be stopped in a stable state.

The stay member 31 and the contact member 33 may be formed in a groove shape such as a C-shaped cross section or in a hollow shape. ≪Others は The above embodiment uses a hangar frame (frame material)
Although the buffer member 34 is provided on the stopper 32 provided on the moving carriage 5, the cushioning member 34 and the contact member 32 may be provided on the movable carriage 5 (the provision on the stopper 32 can reduce the weight of the movable carriage 5 and And has the advantage that it does not interfere with other members). In this case, the stay member 31 may be used also as the stopper.

The buffer member is not limited to a metal plate such as a steel plate, and other materials can be used. In that case, not only bending deformation of the cushioning member, but also compression deformation (crushing deformation) and elongation deformation,
Torsion deformation or the like may be used. Further, the shape of the cushioning member is not limited to the plate shape as shown, but may be another shape such as a block shape. In the case of a plate-shaped material, the shape may be V-shaped or zigzag in plan view (or side view).

Further, the mobile trolley of the present invention means a mobile trolley that carries luggage and is a concept including a stacker crane and the like.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of one end of an automatic warehouse.

FIG. 2 is a cutaway perspective view schematically showing a hangar.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of the other end of the automatic warehouse.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of one end of the automatic warehouse.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the other end of the automatic warehouse.

FIG. 6 is a plan sectional view of a stopper.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line VII-VII of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a side view of the stopper after the movable cart has collided.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Hangar 2 Entry / exit part 3 Shelf 4 Rail 5 Moving trolley 17 End frame 31 Stay member 32 Stopper 33 Contact member 34 Buffer member

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An automatic system comprising: a shelf capable of storing a large number of luggage; a mobile trolley running along a front surface of the rack for loading / unloading the shelf; and a stopper for stopping a runaway mobile trolley. In the warehouse, the stopper may be configured to have a buffer member that is plastically deformed by a collision of a runaway mobile trolley, or a buffer member that is plastically deformed by colliding with the stopper is provided on the movable trolley. A runaway shock absorber for a mobile trolley in an automatic warehouse.